The Scottish Government will use planning powers to effectively ban unconventional oil and gas extraction. Paul Wheelhouse stated:

"I can confirm that the conclusion of the Scottish Government is that we will not support the development of unconventional oil and gas in Scotland.. To put this position into immediate effect, we have today written to local authorities across Scotland to make clear that the Directions that gave effect to the moratorium will remain in place indefinitely. This action means we will use planning powers to ensure that any unconventional oil and gas applications are considered in line with our position of not supporting unconventional oil and gas.

“Let me be clear that this action is sufficient to effectively ban the development of Unconventional Oil and Gas extraction in Scotland. The decision I am announcing today means that fracking cannot and will not take place in Scotland.”

There is a chance that a future Scottish Government could overturn this decision therefore we support calls for the Scottish Government to take the final step and pass a law banning fracking, when the powers over onshore oil and gas licensing are devolved to the Scottish Parliament under the Scotland Act 2016. The decision of the Scottish Government will go to a vote in Parliament at some point after 23 October. Friends of the Earth Scotland have produced an e-action to MSPs thanking for efforts so far and calling on them to push the Government to go further and commit to passing a law banning fracking. Please sign and share: https://act.foe.scot/put-fracking-ban-law

CCoF would like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has helped over the past five/six years - this has been a long struggle! Congratulations to everyone involved in the campaign.